BOSTON — The A’s 6-4 loss Wednesday night came down to the first and sixth innings.

Trevor Cahill got the ball at Fenway Park on his first day back from the disabled list. He had a career-high 12 strikeouts in his May 5 start against the Baltimore Orioles before going on the DL. He mainly relied that day on his changeup, which he threw 35 times and produced 14 swings and misses.

The changeup has become one of Cahill’s go-to pitches this year. In the first inning against Boston, though, he couldn’t dominate with it like he did in the past. He threw it 10 times and got just one swing and miss.

“At first I threw a couple low,” Cahill said. “It didn’t have as much movement as it did last start. It was more of a behind-the-count type of pitch versus a put-away pitch tonight.”

Mookie Betts had two hard outs to center field Tuesday, so you knew it would be tough for bad luck to strike a hitter of his caliber...